Morning in the Emerald City
by Rosepixie
Summary: A series of very short stories about characters from the Oz books in the morning (this is set much later than my other Oz morning story set). There is very little plot, but it is safe to assume that the stories all take place on the same morning, so small connections may become evident. I have no current plans to expand any of these, but may continue to add more of them over time.
1. Jellia Jamb

Jellia hummed to herself as she brushed her hair. It was a beautiful day, as usual, and Ozma was planning to travel south to Glinda's palace after lunch, which would mean a quiet afternoon in the Emerald Palace. Since Dorothy was visiting the Tin Palace in the west and Betsy and Trot were both off on adventures, Jellia was hoping to get some leisure time. Oscar was in town and so Jellia intended to surprise him with a picnic.

The reflection in the tin-framed mirror (a birthday gift from Nick Chopper) showed Jellia that she was looking very pretty today. Her green dress fell around her in graceful folds and she silently thanked Lurline that she no longer wore an apron and cap as part of her uniform. Being Ozma's most trusted attendant had some definite perks!

She sat on the edge of the bed and slipped her feet into her simple green shoes. It was time to fetch Ozma's breakfast tray. Jellia also wanted to speak to the cook about what she wanted for her picnic while she was in the kitchen. She had served in the palace long enough to know what all of Oscar's favorite foods were and she wanted everything to be perfect. It had been too long since they had gotten any real time together and she didn't plan to waste a moment of it.

Carefully closing her bedroom door behind her, Jellia headed off to the kitchen. She sang to herself as she went. The palace hallways were always quiet in the mornings (except near the kitchens) and exceptionally so today, with so much of the palace inhabitants away. The normally quiet maid sang without reservation, knowing it was unlikely she would be overheard. She was certain that today would be a perfectly lovely day!


	2. Scraps

Scraps sat draped across a chair next to the window that looked out across the field. She rested her chin in her hands on the windowsill and sighed. Being alone in the Scarecrow's mansion with nothing to do and nobody to talk to was boring.

With most of the girls who lived in Ozma's palace away on adventures, Scraps (who never had much patience for lack of activity) had quickly grown impatient with the quiet atmosphere and decided to walk out to her good friend the Scarecrow's house to see what he was doing.

Unfortunately, shortly after her arrival he had been called out to do something with the crows who spent their time in a particular corner of his field. At the time, Scraps had decided not to go with him as she was in the middle of playing a new dancing game and did not want to give it up to talk to some boring crows.

As tended to happen, however, the game had ended and now Scraps was left alone to wonder what to do next. Never one to sit still for long, she jumped up in excitement! She had a marvelous idea! She would go to visit her friend the Cowardly Lion in his court in the forest! She hated making journeys alone, however, so she needed to convince the Scarecrow to go with her.

Scraps bounced out the door and danced off to find the Scarecrow. She knew what part of the field the crows considered their own, so she headed in that direction singing cheerfully.

After a few minutes of skipping merrily down the road, she caught sight of the Scarecrow. He was leaning against a fence chatting with one of the crows. In delight, Scraps called to him and whirled in his direction.

With a smile, the Scarecrow caught Scraps as she whirled somewhat out of control. He fell back into the fence, but still kept the patchwork girl from ending up in the dirt. He set her up on her feet before straightening himself up as well.

"Come with me to see the Lion!" she exclaimed without preamble.

"Of course," the Scarecrow laughed. "It's been too long since I've seen his home."

"Good!" declared Scraps as she pirouetted around him happily.

 _Then let us go,_

 _To see our friend,_

 _The Lion fierce,_

 _At journey's end!_

Laughing and waving goodbye to the crow, the Scarecrow allowed the pretty Patchwork Girl to pull him off down the path.


End file.
